Shelter, food, water and clothing represent key human needs that are necessary to satisfy long-term physical well-being and survival. Providing basic shelter may be particularly difficult in impoverished regions or in response to a crisis situation, for example, in response to natural or man-made disasters or in relation to relief efforts.
While temporary shelter systems have been developed to facilitate responses to disaster relief efforts, such shelters may be difficult and time-consuming to assemble or deploy. Moreover, depending on the environment into which such shelters are to be deployed, the lack of electricity, tools and other resources may present specific challenges to an intended user that can dramatically limit the overall utility of such shelters.
Given the extreme conditions to which humans may be exposed during or immediately following a disaster event, it remains critical to quickly and efficiently fulfill the basic human need for shelter. Needed are temporary shelter structures and systems that fulfill the basic human need for shelter and that preferably provide a safe, secure and semi-permanent shelter structure to individuals in need thereof. Particularly needed are temporary shelter structures and systems that are capable of being quickly and easily deployed in response to, for example, a natural disaster event. In view of the harsh environments into which such shelter structures may be frequently deployed, such as for example, war zones or in connection with disaster relief efforts, also needed are shelters and shelter systems that lend themselves to easy assembly and disassembly.